Once Upon a Time: Diamond in the Rough

First Aired October 23rd, 2016.

The episode opens in Agrabah with Jafar (played by Oded Fehr) using his magic to intimidate citizens. Jasmine (played by Karen David) hires Aladdin (played by Deniz Akdeniz) to steal the Diamond in the Rough to defeat Jafar.

Emma (played by Jennifer Morrison) searches for the Oracle, but finds her dead and Shirin/Jasmin fleeing the scene. Jasmine admits who she is, claims she’s innocent, and tells that she’s searching for the “Savior” Aladdin. In flashbacks, Aladdin and Jasmine break into the Cave of Wonders to steal the Diamond. However, it turns to dust when Aladdin takes it, and he’s imbued with magic. Jasmine reveals that was the goal and that he’s now the Savior. The Evil Queen (played by Lana Parrilla), who killed the Oracle, tries to get information about Emma’s visions from Archie/Jiminy Cricket (played by Raphael Sbarge), but he refuses. She assumes his identity and learns from Emma that Aladdin is alive and was the Savior before her. She also forces Emma to admit her visions to her family (learning about them in the process). The Evil Queen then continues to bond with Zelena/The Wicked Witch (played by Rebecca Mader) and encourages her to embrace her dark side, and Zelena turns Archie into a cricket.

The relationship between Aladdin and Jasmine didn’t begin with a magic carpet ride, but with a lie. Jasmine forcing Aladdin into becoming the Savior was unfair to him especially considering how Saviors don’t seem to have a long lifespan. It’s about time the Evil Queen began stepping into the spotlight, her campy performance can make any scene pop. She knows about Emma’s visions, but what, if anything, she can do with that information remains to be seen. But now that her family knows, they will do the inevitable and find a way to save Emma—presumably at the last minute. But at least Once is self-aware enough to have Emma mention that they always find a third option whenever things are bad. Zelena is teetering on the verge of becoming wicked again, very reminiscent of Regina in the early seasons of the show. If history is any guide, Zelena will have to relapse to evil about two more times before she fully commits to being good.

Regina creates a potion to find Aladdin, although she’s offended that Emma appears to believe she’s the murderer in the visions. In flashbacks, Jafar shows Aladdin visions of his future death if he continues on the path of being the Savior, and tries to bribe him with gold. However, when Jafar goes to the palace to kill Jasmine and take over the kingdom, Aladdin shows up and defeats him. The group finds what appears to be Aladdin’s remains and a gold pin given to him as a gift from Jasmine. Jasmine is devastated over his loss, and Emma is left shaken that this means there is no hope of stopping her impending death. Henry (played by Jared Gilmore) admits his guilt to Emma for bringing her to Storybrooke in the first place and setting her on the path to being the Savior. She tells him there is no reason to feel guilty, and they are surprised by the appearance of Aladdin. He reveals he used Jafar’s magic enchanted scissors to rid himself of the Savior’s magic, which led to Agrabah’s ruin, and he offers the scissors to Emma.

Regina is not the person under the hood, it’s a huge red herring and the more it’s brought up the more obvious it is that it’s not her. You can blame Henry for a lot of things; the character is never important to the story, is given ridiculous storylines, and can be downright annoying at times, however, being the catalyst that introduced Emma into the series is a plus for him. Aladdin chose to give up being the Savior, which caused evil to win, because, apparently, Saviors are the only ones around who can fight evil. The show is packed with heroes and powerful beings, but the clear indication is if Emma gets rid of her powers than Storybrooke is doomed. These people are often shoved into a specific role: the Evil Queen, the Savior, etc. and they’re defined by those roles. Even if they try to branch out and find other meaning, it always comes back to whatever role they play and that seems to be their most defining trait.

At Emma and Henry’s encouragement, Aladdin reveals himself to Jasmine. She begs for his help to save Agrabah and he tells her that he is not the Savior anymore. Emma gives Hook (played by Colin O’Donoghue) the enchanted scissors to get rid of and he tells her he sank them in the harbor, but he secretly kept them. Will Jasmine still be interested in Aladdin now that he’s powerless? We’ll find out next week (maybe). When Hook gets caught with those scissors, it’s going to cause a major rift in his relationship with Emma. Especially since they all just had a discussion earlier in the episode about how they need to be honest and open all the time.

Quotes/Thoughts

“Death is the fate of all Saviors.”

I wonder where Emma would have to cut herself with those enchanted scissors.

“Aladdin didn’t trust the people he loved, and that’s why he failed. I believe in us to find a third way. That’s kind of what we do.”

Is anyone else disappointed we didn’t get an appearance by Genie?

If you enjoyed Manny’s review, you can find the rest of his work right HERE on Sci-Fi Bloggers. You can also follow him on Twitter @KN_Manny.

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